When the Dog Days Get You Down
by holtzyman
Summary: Tumblr Prompt: Regina is a bartender/owner in a small downtown bar in Boston. Emma has had a rough day and walking into her bar. Regina sees the beautiful blonde. They hit it off


Tumblr Prompt: Regina is a bartender/owner in a small downtown bar in Boston. Emma has had a rough day and walking into her bar. Regina sees the beautiful blonde. They hit it off.

 **This turned out kind of different than the prompt, sorry about that!**

Emma's day was one of those days that you would think it would be perfect because it starts perfect. She actually gets up the first time her alarm clock goes off. She doesn't have to rush for her shower, and yesterday, when she was out shopping, she found some of her favorite shampoo and conditioner she thought they no longer made. She was very happy to scrub both into her hair.

After her shower, she got dressed in her favorite pair of skinny jeans, a tank top, and her favorite red leather jacket. She actually had time to eat breakfast, so it meant she actually ate food that wasn't just cereal. Her car keys were waiting on the hook and her bug didn't give her any trouble. It was good, and it should have predicted the rest of the day as good.

The rest of her day was not good. The cool breeze of air hit her face as she walked into her work. She worked at a little smoothie place. It wasn't her ideal job, but it payed the bills. It got her through life, just until she could get a job as a detective. It seemed that as every day passed it would never happen, but Emma wasn't giving up. She would become a detective. She would.

"Good morning, Emma," a snarky voice greeted her.

Emma rolled her eyes before facing her co-worker from hell. "Morning, Joanne," Emma said with as much politeness she could muster. It wasn't a lot. It wasn't that she hated Joanne- but yeah, it was that she totally hated Joanne.

Joanne thought she was the queen of the world just because this was her part time job and she only had it because Mommy and Daddy made her. Otherwise the kid was fricking rich and could take a bath in hundred dollar bills. But because Emma was an adult, and Joanne was a kid, she would be nice and not curse out the bratty teenager.

"So, Emma," Joanne started, watching as Emma clocked in, "I heard Mikey wanted to talk to you."

Uh oh. That couldn't be good. Mikey, their manager, barely talked to them privately. If he did, it wasn't good. Still, like Emma would believe anything Joanne said. The little brat was probably just trying to get her riled up so that she'd worry about it the rest of the day and panic about it until she spilled something on someone.

"Sure," Emma answered, making sure to roll her eyes. She grabbed her apron and tied it roughly around her, going to the door to turn on the 'Open' sign.

~()~

While Emma didn't freak out (much), she did somehow end up spilling something on the customer.

A man in a pressed business suit came into the store, talking rapidly into his phone. As he approached the counter, he snapped his fingers rapidly and then threw down a piece of paper. Oh joy. One of those.

He didn't even acknowledged her, just continued to bark into the phone. Emma took a deep breath and grabbed the scratch of paper. He couldn't even bother to write it on a full sheet.

And his handwriting was barely legible. Emma gave the note to Joanne and Rico and they gave her a look. Emma shrugged. It wasn't her fault. Joanne and Rico made the five smoothies, and because they aren't a fast food joint, they didn't have any of those cardboard cup holders. Emma had to hand every drink to the guy, meanwhile he was still talking on the phone.

It's like it happened in slow motion. Emma handed the last cup to the guy, at the same time the guy finally ended the conversation. He went to pocket his phone, saw the cup Emma was already holding out, and rolled his eyes. He went to receive the cup at the same time Emma went to pull it back towards her, (because she thought he was going to put his phone away) and splat!

The cup splashed over, completely ruining the guy's suit.

Oh crap. Oh crap.

~()~

It turns out, Mikey did want to talk to her.

"Emma," he said, getting straight to the point, "some of us here feel like you're not giving us the best you can."

And then of course, she got fired.

Her bad day didn't end there! As she went to go home, her bug wouldn't start. She didn't understand why. It worked fine earlier! It just wouldn't start. Breathing deeply through her nose, Emma popped open the trunk and got the jumper cables. It had been awhile and it took her longer than she would like to admit to remember how to use them. By the time she finally got her car started, it had been an hour since she got fired.

She needed a drink. She needed a good drink. Boston didn't have a lot of bars. No scratch that, they did. But they would all be crowded and loud and exactly the opposite of what she wanted.

~()~

It took her awhile, but she finally finds a quiet one. When she pushes open the door, she was happy to hear soft music, one person at the bar, a few at some tables, two at a pool table, and the bartender, whose back was to her. Letting out a giant sigh of relief, she sits down at the bar, two stools away from the almost passed out Thankfully, he doesn't mind her any attention.

"What can I get you?" asks the bartender, and Emma's mouth goes slack.

For starters, she doesn't have the Boston accent, meaning she's probably not from around here. Second, she's gorgeous. Her hair is shoulder length, shiny and black. Her eyes are a warm chocolate brown, and there's a scar by her lip that Emma just wants to kiss.

She raises an eyebrow and clears her throat, and Emma realizes she's been staring. Emma coughs and tries to wield down her flaming cheeks. "Sorry. Um, rum and coke, please."

"Coming up." She gives Emma a tight smile.

Emma's drink is placed in front of her a couple minutes later. Emma takes a small sip and sighs happily. It's like coming home. She takes another gulp and then another and it's gone. She orders a second but she's much more careful with the second one. She doesn't drink it down in one gulp. She looks around the room and thinks about starting a dart game with the pool guys.

But it looks like they won't be done for awhile. Emma groans and decides to screw it. She finishes her second drink. The bartender goes to make a third one, but Emma stops her.

"No, no, gotta take it slow." Already she can feel the affects of the alcohol. But didn't she come to get drunk? Why try to torture herself?

"That's smart," the bartender comments.

Emma laughs. "That's me," she says bitter. "Smart Emma."

The bartender looks around and folds the towel over one arm. "Look," she said softly, "I normally don't get mixed up with the customers, but you seemed like you had a rough day."

"I mean, it started out good," Emma starts, not even sure why she decided to spill out her guts to a random stranger. "Really good! Then I spilled something on someone, I got fired, my car wouldn't start, and-" She waves her hand around helplessly. "You know what, hit me."

The bartender grins and goes to make Emma's drink. She returns and gives Emma her a drink with a smile. "I'm Regina. I know all about bad days."

Emma raises an eyebrow. "Really? I hardly believe that."

"Oh, really?" The bartender withdraws, eyes sharp.

Crap. "I didn't mean to insult you. I just meant . . . You're so well put together. You're wearing slacks, for heaven's sake. You smell nice, you look pretty, you're just . . . put together!"

Emma really hopes she got her point across, because she really didn't mean to insult the bartender.

To her surprise and relief, the bartender laughs. "Not really, but thank you." Her smile seems so genuine. It's very pretty.

"I'm Emma."

"Regina."

Reginaaaaaa. It sounded pretty. A pretty name for a pretty face.

She must have said that out loud, because Regina laughs. "Pretty face, huh?"

Emma curses and takes a large drink of her third drink. "Um, you see-I just mean-"

"I think you have a pretty face, too."

Oh. Well then. Did it suddenly go up twenty degrees? Because it felt like it.

"When do you get off?" The words are out of her mouth before Emma can stop it. She wants to take them back immediately. No, she needs to pay and leave now and never come back here.

She can not believe she just asked that.

"It must be your lucky day. I get off in twenty."

Emma hadn't expected the bartender to actually answer her question. She expected to get slapped or kicked out of the bar. Emma splutters for a bit before grinning. "I can chill for twenty minutes."

Through those twenty minutes, Emma learns a some things about the bartender. Her name is Regina Mills, and she's only bartending to get a few extra dollars while she's putting herself through culinary school.

Emma can see Regina as a chef. Or a baker, or whatever she's doing. Emma somehow lets out that she wants to become a detective. Regina smiles. "It suits you," she says and for some reason, it makes Emma blush.

Twenty minutes later, someone with spiky dark hair switches places with Regina. Regina makes eye rolls at her the whole time. When they get outside, the chilly air hitting both of them, Emma turns to Regina. "Don't like her?"

"That girl is so optimistic, she could get pissed on and still call it a good day."

For some reason, Emma finds it more hilarious than it really is, and she laughs the whole walk to Regina's car. (Emma's not exactly sober, and she can pick the car up tomorrow.)

Anxiety bubbles in her stomach. It's not like she never hooked up with a stranger before, because she has. It's just the fact that Regina is beautiful. She's easily the most gorgeous person she ever met. (That does include the Disney princesses she met when she was a kid.)

When they get to Regina's apartment, Emma realizes something. Regina must not have been telling the full story or something, because wow, Regina has a serious good looking apartment. She can easily tell it's two bedrooms, not a studio, with a living room and a big kitchen.

She opens her mouth to point this out, but then Regina thrusts her against a wall, and ohhh, yeah, that can totally wait.

~()~

This isn't supposed to be how one-night stands ends, Emma thinks, going into panic mode. Emma is supposed to wake up before her lover does, get dressed, and leave. She is not, not, not supposed to wake up and find the other side of the bed empty. It means Regina is up and Emma has to face her. Awesome!

Quickly, Emma gets dressed in the clothes she was wearing yesterday (minus the underwear, they're useless now) and tries to sneakily walk outside, hoping Regina is in the shower or something. She's not. Instead she's at her kitchen table, sipping at something in a mug-there's a kettle on the stove, so she's assuming tea.

"Morning." Regina grins and points at the water bottle in front of her. "I got you some water and Advil. Two okay?"

Emma's mouth feels dry. She doesn't say anything, instead just accepting the water and pills. Once she had taken them, she rubs at her neck awkwardly.

"So . . ."

Regina sips her tea. "So."

"Last night was . . . fun."

Regina grins. "I know. We can do it again if you want?"

Regina just kept surprising her. "I usually don't," Emma admits. "But for you, I think I'll make an exception."

Regina grins and stands to pull Emma into a sweet kiss. She pulls back almost immediately, crinkling her nose. "Ew. Morning breath."

Emma laughed until she cried.


End file.
